Nagy’s crew struggles over break
January 22, 2008
Travis Kriens
The SDSU men’s basketball team took the hardwood six times from Dec. 12, 2007, and Jan. 14. The Jacks ended with a 1-5 record overall and a 0-2 record in overtime games.
The Jacks started their trip on the West Coast with two games in three days against Cal State Bakersfield and San Jose State. Both games were similar in that the Jacks led at halftime, held the lead late in the game, scored 71 points each game and lost in overtime. SDSU blew a 17-point lead against SJS in the final eight and a half minutes before falling in overtime 77-71.
Looking to rebound from two heartbreaking losses in Calif/, the men hosted Oakland (Mich.) in the first ever Summit League game at Frost Arena. A late five point lead in the final two and a half minutes would evaporate again as Oakland would win 73-72 on a game winning jumper with 15 seconds left.
Two nights later, the Jackrabbits would get their first ever conference win, 73-60, courtesy of the Mastodons from IPFW.
Getting the first conference win out of the way, the Jackrabbits were hopeful that it would propel them to win their first conference victory on the road against Western Illinois. A poor shooting effort in the first half, 7 of 26, resulted in a season low 19 points at halftime. WIU would go on to shoot 52 percent from the field in the second half, including 19 of 20 from the foul line for the game, to give the Jacks another road loss, 75-52.
The road woes could not be shaken as SDSU had the lowest point total of the season, 44, in their next game at Indianapolis against IUPUI. In what could be considered the low point of the season, no Jackrabbit player scored in double digits, the team only recorded five assists and shot 5 of 26, 19 percent, from the field in the first half. Dating back to last season, the Jacks have lost 16 of their last 17 away from Frost Arena.
Sophomore Garrett Callahan was the leading scorer for the Jacks over the break, averaging 12.8 point per game. Callahan was followed closely by Kai Williams, 11.3 ppg, and senior Ben Beran at 10.5 ppg.
